Lions and Tigers and Mokona?
by Nightfeathr 7th
Summary: Oh my! Sakura and the gang are characters in the Wizard of OZ. Based on the MGM movie and the play.
1. Chapter 1

this ain't my own, people. L. Frank Baum provided the plot and CLAMP created the characters. actually, it's based more on the movie and the stage production (of which i know every word) with some small allusions to the book

Princess Sakura of Clow Country was completely unprepared for the sandstorm as it hit the desert ruins where she was playing with her best friend, the small, white, talking dog that she called Mokona. The two took cover inside the gigantic stone wings as sand flew every which way, borne on wind so strong that it pulled the massive stone stucture that the friends were hiding in out of the ground and flung it into the air.The two terrified soon-to-be travelers clung to each other as the mass of stone hurtled out of Clow and landed with a dull 'thud' in a magical land that was located a long way away from anywhere, over a rainbow and a desert.

A shaken-up Sakura and her friend, the equally stunned Mokona, staggered out of the stone structure that had just served as an unlikely vehicle, and into a beautiful, green country. Suddenly, bright, bubbley music came ringing out of nowhere. As our heroes looked wildley around for it's source, they noticed a large, shimmery bubble lazily descending until it popped in front of them to reveal a man with short, blond hair and glasses who, Mokona realized, looked very similar to the high priest of Clow Country. Sakura wondered who this person was, not recognizing him at all. He stepped toward them and bowed to Sakura. "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" he asked.

Sakura was a bit bemused by everything that had just happened. "I-I'm sorry." she stammered."I'm not a witch at all"

"Oh...well then...is that a witch?"

"Moko-chan? Moko-chan is my dog." She picked up her tiny, talking terrier, who waved it's paw at the man, and said in a cute, high pitched voice, "Mokona wants to know why you asked if we were witches?"

The man's jaw dropped. Totaly and completely amazed, he said, "Your dog talks?!"

Sakura grinned. "You can understand him? Usually it's just me."

The man nodded. "In answer to your question, Mokona, the munchkins called me here saying that a new witch had just dropped a large pair of wings on the witch of the East. Here you are, those are the wings, and that arm is all that's left of the wicked witch of the East."

The two travelers turned and gasped as they glimpsed an arm under the gargantuan shaped stone that had carried them to this mysterious land. There was a slim silver chain around the unfortunate witch's wrist, from which danged a ruby red, feather shaped charm. But what really stood out were the witch's fingernails, black and white striped, with neon orange polkadots.

"So," the sandy-haired man continiued, "The munchkins want to know if you are a good witch or a bad witch."

"But I just told you, I'm not a witch at all." Sakura was confused so Mokona cut in. "What are munchkins?"

"They are the little people who live in this land" the strange man explained. "And you are their national heroine." He turned toward some large flowers on the edge of the clearing and called, "It's alright! You can all come out and thank her!" As the spectecald young man spoke, about twenty five white, rabbit-like animals came bounding out of the bushes on two legs. They were about half of Sakura's size, and seemed ecstatic. Two of the strange, cute creatures pushed their way through the crowd and stood in front of Sakura. One, wearing a red and gold hat, started to speak in a voice very much like Mokona's.

"As mayor of the munckin city, I welcome you regally into this fine land of TsubOza, and-"

"But wait!" the other one, wearing a purple hat, squoke, er... spoke. "We have to make sure that she really is dead."

A third bunny-like animal in a black hat made it's way to Sakura, Mokona, and the other two. "I've thoroughly examined the body, or what was left of it." he said in his high, squeaky voice, "How could anyone survive something like that dropping onto them? She is really, sincerly dead."

The other munchkins let out a clamorous cheer, that turned instantly into a piercing scream as a flash of fire revealed a frightening man with a split chin and a monocle.

"Where is my servant!" He hissed.

"I-I'm so s-sorry" Sakura stammerd. "The ruins dropped on her."

"You dropped those wings on my servant?" The scary man's voice wasn't a hiss anymore, instead it was more of a growl. "How could anyone be so... so... clumsy?"

"Look closer" The tall, blond man was starting to get impatient.

"ARRRG!!"

_Wow, _Sakura thought, _He sounds annoyed._

"You recognize her, then."

"I have _never_ seen anyone else paint their nails like that. Not only that, but she wears that ruby feather on her bracelet." There was a moment of awkward silence, then the frightening man with the frighteningly split chin did a frighteningly late double take. "The ruby feather! Little girl, you have helped me greatly. I shall use the ruby feather to make my power greater than ever! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHA-what?"

Sakura, Mokona, the sandy haired man, and all the munchkins stared at him. The tiny talking terrier that sat tight in Sakura's arms looked at the hand, then the scary man, back to the arm, and back to the scary man. The man looked down.

"NOOOOOOO! The ruby feather! What did you do with it?!" He approached the bespectecaled man menecingly.

The other man didn't flinch. "It's right here." he said idicating the surprised girl's wrist where the bracelet and feather did indeed hang. "And it won't come off unless the girl takes it off. Which of course," he looked at Sakura, "you know that you should never do." The girl nodded. "And now you," the tall man turned back to the scary one, "should get out of here before someone drops a gigantic stone structure on you."

The scary man growled, contemplating the options. He turned to Sakura. "Very well. I'll bide my time. But just wait, little girl. I'll have the ruby feather soon." He gave one final evil laugh and dissapeared in another flash of fire and smoke.

There was a pause where everyone absorbed what had just happened. Then the tall, sandy haired man turned to Sakura. "Well, unfortunatly, the Evil Western Warlock is out to get you. It would be best for you to get out of TsubOza altogether. And unfortunatly, the only one who can send you home is the great and powerful Good Witch of the Emerald City, also known as Spirit, in the county of Jade. It's a long way from here. Did you bring your broomstick?"

"N-no. Sorry" Sakura was still in shock after the unexpected unwraveling of uncanny events.

"Well then, you'll have to walk. Follow the Yellow Featherbrick Road. It will take you straight into the Emerald City. Safe journey." And with that, the bubbly,music burst from nowhere as the man drifted into the air, a shimmery bubble forming around him. The munchkins all crowded around Sakura to wave goodbye.

As the shimmering bubble and the bubbly music faded away, The munchkins swept Sakura towards a sparkling golden road paved with gold bricks that looked like-

"Feathers!" Mokona shouted gleefuly in his tiny voice. As the kindhearted munchkins pointed Sakura in the right direction, they sang a little song.

"Yoooou're off to see the Won-der-ful Witch of Tsu-bOz-a!"

chapter 1 done! now, if you liked it, review because i'm not posting the next chapter until I have 5 reviews!


	2. Chapter 2

i almost had 5 reviews, but i really wanted to put this chapter up, so it's here. no thanks to those of you who read without reviewing. now's your chance to make it up to me! review even if you don't like!

Sakura hummed the little ditty that the munchkins had sang as she walked along the glittering golden road, her tiny talking terrier trotting at her side. The adventurers took in the beauty of the country as they walked. There were tiny wildflowers in the field that seemed like minute saphires on a green satin cloth. Butterflies frolicked everywhere and crickets sang. As the duo descended into what seemed like endless cornfields on either side of the featherbrick path, they saw more colors than seemed imaginable in a cornfield. All different shades of yellow and brown stood out against the crystaline blue sky.

And then they were stuck. The road veered off in two different directions around a cornfield. The signs near the fence didn't help much, reading, "Go this way." and "No, go _this_ way."

"Oh no!" a suddenly worried Sakura gasped. "Which way now?"

"Pardon me, but that way is nice." A voice spoke out of nowhere. Sakura swept Mokona into her arms and turned around all in less than two tenths of a second. "Who said that?" She cried, startled. Mokona nudged her arm and looked at the scarecrow that hung on a pole at the very edge of the cornfield. It was dressed in white and blue clothes that looked like a patch of snow and ice that had been transformed into robes, and it had brillient blue eyes. Very pale yellow straw had been attached to it's head as a very realistic imitation of hair. It was pointing down one of the paths. "Don't be silly, Moko-chan" Sakura looked at the dog in her arms, her voice shaking, "Scarecrows don't talk."

"It's pleasent down that way too." The voice spoke again and Sakura's head jerked up. She saw nothing but cornfields and the scarecrow. But the scarecrow was pointing to the other path. Then as she was watching, the scarecrow's mouth moved and it's arms crossed so that it's fingers were pointing to opposite paths. The voice sounded again as this happened. "Of course, people do go both ways."

"Why," Sakura said, calming down, "You did say something didn't you?"

The scarecrow smiled and nodded. Then he seemed to consider for a second and shook his head. Then he looked completely confused and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes you did! Mokona saw you!" The petite pooch cried from Sakura's arms.

"Wow! did that dog just talk?" the scarecrow was astonished.

"Yes. Moko-chan is a talking dog." Sakura smiled. "It seems that people in this country can hear him."

"I wouldn't know if dogs talk or not." the scarcrow said, almost sadly. "I've seen many dogs come this way, but this is the first one that talked.("Yay! Mokona is special!")But I don't have a brain, only straw, so I wouldn't know."

"If you don't have a brain," Sakura said, being logical, "How can you talk?"

"I don't know. But some people without brains do an _awful_ lot of talking, don't they?"

"I guess you're right," Sakura laughed, "my brother, for one." Suddenly she realized that she didn't know the name of the person she was talking to. So she asked.

"My name. It's been a long time since I've been called by a name. If I remember correctly, it was Fai. Yes, that's right. Fai."

"That's such a pretty name! I'm Sakura."

"And THIS," Mokona jumped from Sakura's arms to her head, "Is Mokona!!"

Fai's grin grew wider as he said, "How do you do?" to each of them. Suddenly Mokona was struck by a thought. "Can Fai get down?" The little white dog asked. "If he gets down, he can come to the Emerald City with us and ask the good Witch for a brain!"

"That's a good idea, Moko-chan!" Sakura said, then turning to the straw man, "How can we get you down?"

"Well," Fai replied, "I'm not very bright about doing things, but if you bend down the nail in back, maybe I'll slip off."

Sakura and Mokona went around to the back of the pole, searching for the nail. Sakura looked all up and down the pole, not noticing the rusty nail that stuck two inches out of the wood. Mokona did, however, and pushed it down and there was a rustle of straw as the scarecrow tumbled off the pole and onto the ground, losing some of his straw in the process.

"Oh, oh!" Sakura cried. "Are you alright?" She ran over to him and helped him get up as he picked up the escaped straw and stuffed it back into his shirt.

"I'm fine. I don't get hurt when that happens." he assured her, then he laughed. "It's so good to be free!" And he fell into the fence. Sakura helped him up and Mokona asked, "Is Fai alright?"

"Yes,yes, I'm fine" He was still laughing. "To the Emerald City, then?"

"To the Emerald City!" Sakura and Mokona chorused.

And they sang the munchkins little ditty, "Weeeeee're of to see the Won-der-ful witch of Tsu-bOz-a!"

i want someone to review this before i put up chap#3. it's done, but i can wait.


	3. Chapter 3

not mine, not mine. do i have to keep saying those painful words?

The threesome walked on for about an hour, the scarecrow occasionaly losing straw, but putting it back in. They chatted and laughed, Mokona riding on each of their heads in turn. But soon Sakura noticed hunger pangs deep in her stomach. At first, she suppresed them, not wanting to be a burden and there was alos the fact that none of the travelers had any food at all. Fai probably didn't need to eat, being made out of straw, but the last time Sakura had eaten was hours before, in the country of Clow.

"Sakura, look!" Mokona called from Fai's head. "You like apples, don't you?"

Sakura looked, and there was indeed a grove of the trees, limbs heavy with the fruit. They were red apples, a variety that were rare in Clow, but Sakura had tasted them before, and they were just as delicious as the yellow ones that she was used to. So she ran up to the trees, grabbed an apple that was easy to reach, twisted it off the tree, and was slapped in the hand by a smaller branch, causing her to drop the apple. "Ouch!"

The tree turned around to face her, for it did indeed have a face, an mad face. "What was that for?" The tree asked angrily, her voice rough like bark.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura squealed, startled. "We've been walking for ages and I was hungry so when I- wait. Did you just say something?"

Ignoring the question, the tree continiued, "How would it feel if someone came along and pulled something off of you?!"

"Oh," Sakura gasped as she stepped back toward her friends. "I keep forgetting I'm not in Clow Country anymore."

"Don't worry Sakura," Mokona said, jumping to her head. Then in a whisper, "We came up with a way to get apples."

Fai put on a mock stern face and said in a very mock stuck-up way, "Come on Sakura-chan. We wouldn't want any of _those_ apples anyway."

"What?" The tree sounded even more offended now. "Are my apples not good enough for you?"

"Oh, no. We just don't like little green worms. It looks like all of you have worms." There were angry mutters around the grove. The fist tree was no longer offended though. She was completely furious. "Worms!" She shrieked.

"Oh, sure you got worms. Worms, catterpillars, and," The straw man said casualy and reached out to take an apple, not pulling off the branch, but to inspect it. "And yep, a whole bunch of wood lice too." He flashed them his best smile.

The trees all shrieked in pure outrage and stared to pick their own apples and throw them at the travelers.

Sakura and Mokona wisely took cover in some bushes on the opposite side of the yellow pathway. Fai howvever, danced in front of the trees, dodging their apples and laughing until one hit him in the stomach, bowling him over. Sakura gasped, but being made of straw, Fai wasn't hurt at all.

"How do you like them apples?" The tree shouted, satisfied now that she had hit him.

"We like them just fine!" Fai called back, flashing an innocent smile at the trees. "Come on Sakura-chan! You can collect as many as you want!"

At that, the tree closed her eyes like she had a bad headache. "They've made saps out of all of us, girls." She called to her friends. "I think it's time we boughed out." (gettit? gettit? _boughed_ not bowed! That was the line in the play!)

As Sakura searched the bushes where the apples had rolled, she saw an oil can in the grass. Next to the oil can was a metal foot. Attached to the metal foot was the rest of a dark metal man. He looked like a fighter, and there was a sword on the ground near him. He appeared to be rusted badly, an ax in his hand as if he was chopping wood. Sakura called Fai and Mokona and as the three approached the stiff figure, it let out a moan that sounded like it was trying to make words, but couldn't open his mouth. "Mmmmml mmmmn. Mmmuil mun."

The straw man was the first one to figure it out. Grinning, he told Sakura the words that the frozen man was trying to say. "He said 'oil can' "

"Oil can? He must mean this" Sakura picked up the oil can. "Where do you want to be oiled first?"

"Mmmu muff"

"His mouth" Fai translated.

Sakura quickly oiled his mouth and jaw so that the metal man could speak again, then started to oil all of his joints.

"Mmmmml, mm, mohh, well." The man had gained control of speech again. "Finally someone comes. I've been sitting here forever, and nobody has noticed me. I've rusted so badly that I probably won't be able to swing that sword at all." Now able to move fully, he threw the ax into the bushes, picked up the sword, and unsheathed it. The handle, crafted into the shape of a dragon, was a bit rusty, but the blade was perfect.

"So, tinman, why were you all rusty anyway?"

"I'm NOT made out of tin!" The metal man really had a short temper. "And I have a name. It's Kurogane."

"You're right about that."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"You're made out of black steel. The name suits you well. Can you answer my question?"

The steel man, Kurogane, tried to roll his eyes. Finding that he couldn't, he took the oil can from Sakura and oiled aruond his eyes so he could move them. Then he explained. "I was a bodyguard for a munchkin maiden, by the name of Tomoyo. Her mother hated me though, and hired the Evil Western Warlock to send people to kill me. However, the first time they tried, they only cut off my arm. Tomoyo's cousin sent a fake one, but the stupid thing didn't fit, so I had a very skilled blacksmith make me one out of black steel. Actually, Tomoyo chose black steel, because it fit my name.

The assasins came again, and cut off my other arm. I got another relacement. Again the assasins came and chopped off both my legs. The blacksmith made me new ones.But the next time the enemy came, they split me right down the middle. Luckily, the blacksmith made me a new head and body, exactly like the old ones.

Then Tomoyo sent me out here to chop wood. I... well... I got lost. I'd never been here before. And then it started to rain. Then nothing happened until today."

"Well, Kurogane is perfect now!" Mokona jumped to Sakura's arms, then head, then to Kurogane's head.

"HEY! Don't get comfortable, dog!" He grabbed the little dog off of his head and dropped it to the ground. "You look like a little manjuu bun."

"Yay! Mokona is a pork bun!"

"That was meant to be an insult, fuzz ball," the steel man growled. And I'm not anywhere near perfect. It'll take months of training for me to be able to use this sword again. And I don't have a heart, but that's not such a terrible thing."

"B-but Kurogane-san," Sakura asked. "How can you not have a heart?"

"The blacksmith forgot to put one in. But I've got bigger problems than worrying about hearts and stuff. I need to find my way home." He turned into the woods and started to walk away.

"Kuro-tintin!"

The steel man stiffened and turned. "_What_ did you call me?"

Fai ignored this and held up the oil can that Kurogane had dropped when Mokona had jumped onto his head. "How far do you expect to get without this?" He called, smiling. "One rainstorm and you're done!"

The steel man held out his hand. "Give it to me."

"I don't think so. But what will I do with it?"

"Mokona can hold it. Mokona can store things in Mokona's mouth!"

"Hey! HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!"But the tiny terrier had already taken the vital oil into it's mouth.

"Kurogane-san, if you come with us, the Good Witch of TsubOza could probably get you home. I'm going to get her help in returning home to a different country, and Fai-san is going to get a brain."

"He sure needs one." the irritated steel man muttered as the scarecrow grabbed him and the girl by the elbows and skipped down the glittering path and sang the little song, "Weeee're off to see the won-der-ful witch of Tsu-bOz-a"

"Kuro-tin, you sing too!"

"What!? NO!"

"Mokona can imitate voices, Mokona will sing for Kurogane. Weeee're off to see-"

"SHUT IT, FUZZ BALL!!"

yaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwn. i'm tired. it's 11:32. i have school tomorrow. 'night. oh yeah, 5 more reviews needed


	4. Chapter 4

The trees along the path grew denser and denser, eventually becoming a dark forest. All of the travelers were scared out of their wits, with the exeption of Kurogane, but even he was a little jumpy.

"This is a really dark forest." Sakura nervously stated the obvious. "Do you think there will be wild animals?"

"Animals that eat straw, maybe?" Fai seemed nervous.

"Oh sure, we'll see some of them," Kurogane assured them, "but we'll see tons that are fierce, wild, meat eaters. They could eat a fuzz ball like you in one gulp," he pointed at the terrified terrier. "They would tear you" he pointed at Fai, "apart in seconds, though they wouldn't eat you."

"What animals are they?" Sakura whispered in fear.

"Lions and tigers, and bears too"

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

"Stop it, Kuro-puu.You're scareing all of us."

But Kurogane was having more fun than he'd had in ages. The other three had started to chant "Lions and tigers and bears" with an "oh my!" from Sakura at the end of it. To raise the tension, he joined in .

"Lions and tigers and bears"

"Oh my!"

"Lions and tigers and bears"

"Oh my!"

"Lions and tigers and bears"

"Oh my!"

"Lions and tigers and-"

"**RROOOOAAARRRR**"

"KYAAAAAAAAAA"

Even Kurogane jumped. He hadn't been expecting anything to really jump out of the trees. His lack of training (at least that was what he blamed it on, he'd never admit to being really startled) caused him to trip over a tree root and get tangled in some low lying vines that seemed to deliberatly knot themselves around unwary passer-by. Fai and Sakura had jumped back a few paces. Fai, being made out of straw had tumbled into a bush.

A lion stood on two legs in the space that they had just occupied. He had a brown mane and a face that looked very human. He also looked very unsure of himself.

"P-please!" Sakura stammered, scared. "D-don't hurt us!"

The lion was hesitating, and that gave our quick-tempered, steel friend enough time to cut himself free of the vines. He jumped up, sword drawn, and approached the lion.

"Wait!"the lion suddenly looked a whole lot more unsure of what to do than he had before, and he looked really scared too. "Don't hurt me! I wasn't going to attack you."

"Then that was a _really _convincing way to show it." Kurogane's sword tip rested near the lion's throat.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Sakura cried. "Don't you see how scared he is?!"

"It will do him good to be the scared one." Kurogane growled, grudgingly putting the sword away.

"I'm _usually_ the scared one." The lion whimpered. "I'm a coward, afraid of everything, no courage at all. Even my family has disowned me. I never sleep because I worry too much."

"You should try counting sheep!" Mokona put in helpfully from Sakura's head

"That doesn't help, I'm scared of sheep." the lion admitted miserably. "If you trip when you're near them they could stomp on your head."

Sakura felt sorry for the lion and whispered to Mokona that if the lion came with them, the witch of TsubOza would give him some courage. Of course, you can't travel with someone without knowing their name, so she asked.

"My name? It's Syaoran."

"It's nice to meet Syaoran!" Mokona jumped over to him. "I'm Mokona, this," he gestured to the girl he traveled with "is Sakura, this," he pointed at the man made from dark steel, "is Kurogane and yes, he is made of steel, and-"

"Excuse me." Fai's voice was muffled. "Can you get me out of this bush, please?"

"Oh! Sorry Fai-san!" Sakura cried as she ran to distangle her companion from the bush. The lion came over to help her and after some tugging the straw man came loose, thugh he left quite a bit of straw in the plant. Mokona pulled it out and Fai stuffed it back into his shirt.

"So," Sakura got back to the point "I was wondering if you would like to come to the Emerald City and ask the Good Witch there for some courage."

"Are you sure that you wouldn't feel degraded being seen in the company of a cowardly lion?"

"Oh, certainly not, Syaoran-kun."

"Then we're off to the Emerald City?"Fai asked.

"Wait. We're taking someone else along?" Kurogane groaned.

"You can't talk, Kuro-tin, You also just joined us."

"YOU FREAKIN _FORCED_ ME TO! AND STOP CALLING ME WEIRD NAMES!"

The other four travelers took no notice of this outburst and skipped along the Yellow Featherbrick Road singing what had become their theme song. "Weeeee're off to see the Won-der-ful Witch of Tsu-bOz-a"

"Kuro-pon still doesn't sing along! Whaa-haa-haa!"

"STOP IT WITH THE CROCIDILE TEARS!!"

"Oh no! Kuro-tintin's mad!"


	5. Chapter 5

i am so so so so so so so so sorry! It shouldn't take me as long as it did to write a chapter as long as this is! i guess i was distracted by another fic i am writing, but that hasn't been posted and i already have four chapters of this. i have no sense o priority at all. so sorry!

The Evil Wizard of the West watched the unwary travelers through his magic mirror as they wandered out of the spooky forest. He was fuming at himself for missing his cue when the steel man joined the group, and decided to take it out on his enemies.

He had two options. He could squash them out like the interfering bugs that they were, or he could be witty and creative. He sat, weighing the options. The bug alternitive was atractive, but it would be messy. But it fitted his mood. On the other hand, being witty and creative would lead to a slow, painful death, for them.

As a servant came with wine for him, he murmured, "Something with poison in it. Hmmm, poison. But atractive to the eye and soothing to the smell."

The travelers came to a field of poppies, now the only thing in between them andtheir destination. Poppies.

"Poppies... poppies... poppies, poppies,poppies! " the wizard noticed the servant giving him a weird look, cleared his throat, and tried to sound more menacing, instead of sounding like an excited child on his birthday, "This _leathal _lulliby will put them to sleep forever with terrible dreams.Then the ruby feather will be MINE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The servant hurried out of the room.

The five travelers emerged from the spooky forest and came apon a ruby red field of poppies. Fai was skipping along, Kurogane was walking sullenly, Syaoran, the new addition to the group, looked a bit nervous as the Emerald City came into view, Mokona hopped from straw head to steel head to furry head to brunette head annoying the hell out of the steel head.

"Will you get OFF ME?!" Kurogane yelled for the twenty first time since the lion had joined the group. The head jumping dog just laughed and jumped to the scarecrow's head, who also laughed.

Sakura fell farther and farther behind. Syaoran noticed and called for the others to wait up.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" Fai asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine." the girl replied, "I'm just tired, that's all."

"If you're tired, Sakura," the white furball squeaked from Fai's head, "we can take a shortcut!"

"That's true," the scarecrow affirmed, "the road curves around this poppy field. We can cut through and pick it up on the other side."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Syaoran looked doubtful, "Maybe it would be better to stick to the road."

"Hmmm. Kuro-tin, what do you think?" Fai looked thoughtful.

"I"M NOT MADE OUT OF TIN!" Kurogane was having a hard time keeping his cool.

The outburst had no effect on the scarecrow, who waved one of his hands in mock impatience, saying, "We know, we know, but what do you think about a short cut?"

"Anything that will get me to the stupid city faster."

"Syaoran-kun, could we please? We'll get there a lot faster." Sakura pleaded.

"Okay, but let's hurry."

The friends started to run across the ruby red field., the Emerald City where they would get their wishes granted was getting closer. But about halfway through, Sakura started to feel stangely tired. She started to fall behind the others. Syaoran started to feel it too, and Mokona, the talking terrier who was currently attached to Fai's straw head, started to fall asleep.

"Wait!" Sakura cried "I don't know what's wrong, but I just can't run anymore. I need to lie down...and...sleep." She fell down and instantly nodded off, leaving Fai and Kurogane helpless as Syaoran dropped, sound asleep, and Mokona tumbled off of Fai's head in the same state.

"What's wrong with them?" Kurogane asked nobody in particular, rolling his eyes. Fai chose to answer him,"These poppies have a curse on then that puts everyone that breathes around them to sleep. We don't breath, so it doesn't affect us."

"How did you know that?"

"I don't know anything, I just sort of felt this. Anyway, it doesn't matter. We need to wake these three up somehow."

"How do you expect to do that?"

"I don't really know. Maybe we should call for help."

"That won't help around here, nobody's gonna hear you." But Fai had started to jump around waving his arms and yelling, "Help! Help!"

"He looks like he's having fun, idiot scarecrow." Kurogane rolled his eyes again.

Amazingly, a voice echoed out of nowhere,"I cannot undo this horrible curse, but I can counter it for a while." Neither Fai or Kurogane had met the good wizard of the north, but they weren't going to (or rather, Fai wasn't going to) ignore help just because they didn't recognize a voice. And help did come. Fat, white flakes of snow fell in their millions to cover the poisonus poppies. The three sleepers slipped out of their slumber and the friends skipped across the field singing.

"Weeeeeeee're of to see the Won-der-ful Witch of Tsu- bOz-a"

"Kuro-tin still doesn't sing? Why?"

"SHUT UP FURBALL!!"

"Oooooh! Kuro-tin must have a terrible singing voice! Poor Kuro-tin!"

"..."

"Whaaaaaa! Kuro-tin's scary!"

sorry again. that was a short chapter that should have been written twice as fast. I'll go faster on tha next one, promise!


	6. Chapter 6

i promise that this chapter will be longer than the last few. i've got more to cover here. nothing belongs to me here

The travelers came to the huge green gate that was the entrance to the city that they had traveled so far to reach for their different reasons. Sakura took a deep breath and pulled the rope that rang the doorbell. there was a clamoruos _CLANG_ing and a small potion of the door opened. Two faces looked out. They were young girls, each with a look of cute bewilderment on her face.

"Who rang the bell?" one asked in a cute, bewildered voice

"We did" the travelers chourused (with the exception of Kurogane, who rolled his eyes)

"But don't you see the sign?" asked the other girl in a voice that was just as cute and bewildered as that of the first girl.

"There isn't a sign there." Kurogane pointed out.

"What?"

"No sign?" The girls blushed cutely at the same time and dissapeared, reappearing a second later with a huge sign that read "BELL OUT OF ORDER, PLEASE KNOCK" which they placed on the door before they dissapeared again, closing the peephole behind them. The travelers read the sign, then Sakura took the huge green knocker on the door and knocked twice.

The peephole opened again and the girls stuck their heads out again, this time cutely beaming identically.

"Welcome to the Emerald City, home of the witch of TsubOza."

"What is your buisness here?"

"We need to see the witch." The group chourused again.

"The witch?"

"But nobody is allowed."

"If you please," Sakura spoke up, "I was sent by the good wizard of the north. He gave me this." She held up the ruby feather charm on the bracelet.

"Oh! That changes things!"

"Why did you not say so!?"

"Come in!" They said in unison as the gates started to swing open.

The travelers entered the wonderful city. Everything was green, the stones used for buildings and roads, the clothes of the people, the food, the animals that were used to pull carts, the carts themselves, everything. Even the skin of the people was a dark green The only things that weren't green were the sun, the sky, the clouds, and the girls that had greeted them, who were wearing green clothes but had light faces and blond hair.

They danced along the road, a few steps in front of the travelers to guide them to the witch's palace.

Along the way, townspeople came out to greet the visitors, dancing and singing. "Hahaha, hohoho, as we sing out tra-la-la, we always laugh all through the day in merry old TsubOza!"

The travelers sang and danced along, having the time of their lives. (Ecxept for Kurogane, who hung back, looking slightly disturbed) But suddenly, huge, smokey cursive letters formed in the sky that read:

**Surrender, Sakura!**

Everyone started freaking out. There were cries of, "Sakura? Who's Sakura?" then, "The witch will explain it!" "To the witch!" at which point everyone started to push their way through the huge crowd to get to the gate of the palace. A young man who's face also wasn't green, stood guard at the gate and was currently trying to push the oncoming crowd back. "There's nothing to worry about!" He shouted over the noise, the sun glinting off his glasses, "The witch has everything under control now, so you can all...go...HOME! Get OUT of here!" He seemed to have a temper to rival Kurogane's.

Reluctantly, the crowd started to disperse leaving the five standing alone outside the gate. The guard breathed a sigh of relief, then he saw them. "I told you to go home!"

"Please, sir, we must see the witch"

"By what right?"he asked, tired of everything. He just wanted to be rid of all the people who constantly pressed him for admitance to the witch's palace. He was doing them a favor by not letting them face what the witch would put them through to get what they wanted. He wished that he had never come here with his employer and that he had been allowed to stay safely in Japan. But he had to deal with more tourists now.

"_This_" Fai made a sweeping gesture toward the girl, "Is the same Sakura-chan who the Wicked Wizard of the West was so cruel to just now."

The guard sighed. Poor Sakura. The witch had told him earlier that day that if anyone by the name of Sakura came seeking admittance, he was to let her and her friends in. He sighed again, louder this time. "Follow me." He turned, opened the small gateand walked through, closely followed by the travelers.

The travelers were led into a long corridor. At the end, there was a room, as there usually is at the end of a long corridor. In that room, a black haired, pale faced woman sat on a throne-like chair.

"Wait a minute" Kurogane said, pointing accusingly at the woman, "Isn't she supposed to be using some sort of scary disguise?"

"Oh, she doesn't need one" the guard muttered.

"I heard that, Watanuki" The witch said, giving him a death glare. Watanuki cowered and hurried out to guard the gate again.

"Anyway," the witch started to speak, her gaze sliding onto the travelers and the death glare leaving her face, "I am Yuuko, the great and powerful Witch of TsubOza. You have some requests to make, no?"

Sakura stepped up first. "I am Sakura" she bowed, "and I just want to get back to the Kingdom of Clow"

Yuuko nodded and smiled, then looked at the others. "You have requests too?"

"Yes, ma'am," Fai grinned, "I came for some brains, and Kuro-tin here came looking for a heart with which to love his beauti-"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!"

"Unforunately, being quite heartless, he doesn't see his great need for one"

The witch smirked and nodded, then turned to Syaoran. "And you?"

"I came to ask for a small amount of courage. I am always doubting things and I do get frightened and uneasy very easily. I ask you to please give me courage so that I don't make a complete fool of myself."

"There will be a price. Knowing this, do you all still want your wishes granted?"

The company nodded, except for Kurogane who looked bewildered. He was just realizing that the witch did intend to give him a heart and he would have to pay the price for it. But he didn't want a stupid heart! But before he could speak up, the witch continiued. "You do not have payment enough to individually pay for your wish, but if you do this small task together, I will be able to grant your requests."

"What do you need us to do?" Fai asked.

"Bring me the sword of the Wicked Wizard of the West."

There was silence. Then Syaoran spoke up. "But to do that, we'll have to kill him won't we?"

The witch looked him in the eye. "Yes" she said solemly, "but it would all be for the better. This is the price you must pay for your wishes to come true."

"B-but," stammered Sakura, "I've never killed anyone before, and I don't think I could." She hung her head.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Fai put an arm around her shoulder, smiling again. "That's what Kuro-tin here is for!"

But even Kurogane shook his head. "Tomoyo made me swear to her that I wouldn't kill anyone without her permission."

But then Mokona spoke up in his squeaky little voice, "But we don't actually need to kill him! We just need the sword!"

This statement made everyone a bit more cheerful, so they left the witch to prepare for their journey. All the while, they tried to devise a way to get the sword from the wizard without actually killing him.

Yuuko, the Witch of TsubOza watched them. "You will find the strength, child" she murmured before she closed the green curtains.

yes, the price system was different, maybe even opposite, of that in the book. instead of all paying different prices for the same thing, they are all paying one big price for seperate things.

reveiw and i'll write the next chapter faster, i promise!


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!

I should have posted this chapter like, three months ago. At least. So, so sorry!

* * *

The travelers left for the Wicked Wizard's castle the next day. Fai and Syaoran had acquired swords, and Sakura had found a small handgun that she hoped she would be able to use if she needed to. The guard, Watanuki, was escorting them to the gates.

"This is a bad idea!" he suddenly burst out, "You could get killed or enslaved if you go! I should never have let you in to see the witch if this was what she wanted from you!"

Sakura smiled. "I'm glad you did," she said, "I need to get home, even if it means doing this." The guard angrily mumbled something incoherent as they reached the gates.

The two girls opened the huge green doors and the travelers stepped out. Mokona looked around. "There isn't a yellow featherbrick road to follow this time, is there?" he squeaked dejectedly.

The guard shook his head, "There isn't any road at all to the land of the Winkies."

"Winkies?" Fai asked.

"What are Winkies?" Syaoran finished the question.

"They are the slaves of the wicked wizard. He also has giant bats that you need to look out for. Well, I can only take you as far as the Jade Gate. Good luck! I hope you come back!"

The doors slammed closed and the travelers set off on the new leg of their journey. They were silent for some time, until Fai spoke up, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, I guess that it's a good thing that I don't have a brain, I don't have the wit to be scared."

There was more silence.

"I guess that means that Kuro-tin doesn't have the heart to fail"

"I wouldn't fail anyway, you lump of hay" The steel man growled.

Meanwhile in a dark and spooky castle deep in the heart of the haunted forest, the wicked wizard watched the unwitting travelers through his magic mirror as they made their way over the difficult terrain. He laughed.

"Well, these people are stupider than I thou - I-I mean," he stammered as a servant walked into the room with more wine, "It is all going as I planned. Bats! Bats!"

There was a faint fluttering sound that got louder and louder and a slight breeze that turned into a gale as a huge number of giant black bats filled the room.

"All right my massive, monestrous, menacing minions! Go out into the haunted forest and bring me back the little girl with the feather on her bracelet. And bring me the dumb little dog too, it could be usefu - I-I mean, it is also part of my big plan. Now fly! Fly!"

Nothing happened.

Fei Wong Reed narrowed his eyes and looked around at the flying terrors. "Well?"

The leader bat made a bunch of high-pitched, squeaky noises that the evil warlock was somehow able to understand.

"You're tired!? What do you mean you're tired!? I created you to do my bidding, not to sleep all day!"

The leader bat made more noises.

"Okay, okay! I'll cast a spell that will get them really tired. They won't put up a fight. Now go!"

More squeaks.

"Don't be a wimp! You can carry a little girl and a talking dog! Besides, you know what will happen if you don't."

The bats flew off.

Fei Wong Reed sighed, made sure that nobody was around, then slumped into his chair. This was going to be a long night.

"I swear," Kurogane groaned, "That this is the fifteenth time we've seen this tree!"

"But Kuro-tin, we've haven't made any turns!" the scarecrow protested.

The travelers were in a bright, sunny forest that had a clear path that traveled straight as far as the eye could see. Birds were singing their beautiful harmonies as chipmunks danced, and flowers stretched their silken petals up to drink in the light of the sun. Kurogane was suffering. He had expected fear and darkness, not over-bright happiness and sugary sunshine. The others had loved it, dancing along until they were worn out.

Syaoran bent down to examine the tree that the steel man had pointed out. "No, Kurogane-san is right." he said gravely. "I put these clawmarks here."

"Oh, very good Syaoran-kun!" Fai exclaimed as he put his hand on the trunk of the aforementioned tree. Mokona chimed in with a "Well done, Syaoran!" and Sakura looked over at the straw man. "What are you doing, Fai-san?"

"It's just as I thought." the scarecrow said thoughtfully. "This tree is the source of a magic that makes us think we're in a bright sunny forest. I'll bet we've been in the real haunted forest for the last six hours, and I'll bet we've been going nowhere." The steel ninja exhaled a stream of muttered curses. "But," Fai continued cheerfully, "If Kuro-tin will just chop this tree down with that shiny ax of his, the spell will break and we will be able to make some real progress."

"Why the hell does he always pick me?" Kurogane muttered to himself before releasing all of his pent up frustration at all things happy and bright on the object that had forced him to go through those six hours of torture. In a matter of seconds, the tree was on it's side. Then, the bright light and happy music of the pseudo-forest seemed to be getting sucked into the stump, leaving a dark, creepy forest with weird animal calls and skeletons of trees. Kurogane breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, wow!" The princess of Clow exclaimed. "How did you know Fai-san?"

The scarecrow looked thoughtful. "I know that I don't have a brain, so I know that I can say that I don't know how I know how to detect something that I know takes someone who knows how to detect to detect. Who knows, maybe I'm growing a brain?"

"I wouldn't know." Syaoran said, looking around at the drastically different scenery.

"Mokona knows that knowing how to know things is one of Mokona's 108 secret technics."

"Secret technics, huh?" Fai asked "Do you know what the others are?"

"I know that Mokona knows," Sakura complained, "But he says that no other people are supposed to know them. He won't even tell me!"

"Now I know how secret they are." Fai said, impressed.

Kurogane was losing the meaning of the word "know" in his mind. "Quit fooling around!" he shouted, "Something dangerous is coming this way, I kno-" he stopped short, not wanting to say that word. "Just be on your guard." he growled.

"Fai, what are those?" Mokona, sitting on top of Sakura's head, pointed up toward the sky. There were a bunch of murky black shapes circling above. Fai looked thoughtful once more. "They look almost like the crows that used to steal corn from me. But these are too big to be crows and the wrong shape."

"They're bats, I think" Syaoran said squinting at the shapes. Kurogane unsheathed his sword. "Be ready to fight." he growled, "Remember what that guard said, that the wizard has giant bats!"

No sooner had he said this than the monestrous things were on them. Kurogane was the only one who was able to fight though, the others were all worn out. The bats took Fai to pieces, Sakura lost her handgun, and Syaoran got knocked out almost immediately. Kurogane's oil can fell out of Fai's arm as the bats tore him apart, and the steel warrior was sure to grab it. Unfortunately, while he was doing this, the bats grabbed Sakura and Mokona and flew away into the darkness.

* * *

Gah! I typed the word "know" so many times, I think it lost meaning for me too.

I finally finished though, sorry about the long wait. Reviews keep me inspired, thanks Syaoran4eva who found my story a few days ago, I became motivated to finish this chapter!


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